Mini Golf Math!

A few weeks ago, while perusing various consignment stores looking for picture books for our homeschool, we decided to pop by our local Goodwill store to check out their selection of books.
Back in our earlier days of homeschooling when we were still very much in the process of building up our collection of books and materials, I used to pop into both consignment stores and thrift shops in search of Fabulous Finds. But since we have amassed such a wonderful collection of materials, these shopping trips have subsided quite a bit...they are still fun to do once in a while though! 

Well, while we were there at Goodwill, Big Bro happened to see a miniature golf kit, in like brand new condition, in the original box, with each part of the set still in plastic wrap.
Both boys love golf, whether it is miniature golf or real golf, so to find this set was pretty neat!
Even though the creators of this set designed it to be a drinking game, we saw it as something that could work well for us in the scope of homeschooling...

Big Bro was especially determined to get this little golf game so he quickly added that there would have to be some kind of learning game or Montessori extension that they could do with this set.

Since this kit was actually designed to be a drinking game, each shot had a designated meaning as to whose turn it was to drink and how many shots they were supposed to have...
Each shot glass is color coded. There are a total of six shot glasses, as well as one flag/pin, two golf clubs, two little metal golf balls, a sand trap, a small bunker, and a water hazard.
The only thing the set needed was a little rake for the sand trap, but we found that taking the brush meant for Dear Daddy's shaving kit worked pretty well as a way to tidy up the sand.

As it turns out, our Montessori math facts are in little boxes and are color coded, so the boys came up with the idea that this set could work for a math game / work extension!
We have four boxes, one for each of the math operations:addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Little Bro has not had any work involving division yet, but both boys are familiar with and have had Montessori lessons on addition, subtraction, and multiplication, so we used cards from these three sets and filled the shot glasses with the cards.

Our cards fit perfectly into the shot glasses!

Let me tell you, this math work extension has been a huge hit with both boys!

They have come up with multiple ways to do this work  / play this game, depending on how you wanna look at it...

Generally, one of them will select the work and will add the respective cards.
They then choose to do the work with or without the aide of the Montessori math beads.
They have come up with all kinds of rules about what the different shots mean:
If you land in a sand trap, you have to complete two cards.
If you land in the water hazard, you have to do three cards.
If you get stuck by the bunker, you have to do two cards.
If you score a hole in one, you can choose to not answer a card for that time or, for some of the rounds, If it is a "hole-in-one contest", then you "win" a car (a toy car of course)!!!

This has been such a great way for them to practice their math facts.

Since they have enjoyed playing it so much, they are now trying to think of other sorts of cards that could work into this game.
We are going to try this game using grammar cards from our Montessori grammar work for Big Bro, as well as speech and articulation cards for Little Bro.
I just have to use the template from our Montessori math cards to make cards for grammar and speech/articulation that will fit the shot glasses.

So thanks to the person who donated this adorable set to Goodwill!
You probably got it as a gag gift or something and thought it was silly, but for two boys who love golf, this set has been such a great addition to our homeschooling (and all for only $2.00)!

Here are some photos...what a fun way to learn!

Our mini golf set!

Our Montessori math facts cards in their regular color coded boxes: addition is red, multiplication is yellow, and subtraction is green. They are not using the division cards for this work just yet...

Big Bro working out what each shot will mean...

Big Bro explaining to Little Bro how this mini golf set works as a math work...

The ball has landed in the sand trap! That means answer two math facts cards.

Best ball round!  Montessori math beads are hanging out in case they need to use them for solving / self checking their answers.

Little Bro doing this work independently...

Little Bro doing this as his work. The Montessori math beads and the cars for getting a hole-in-one are off to the side...

Close up of the toy cars they use as prizes if they get a hole-in-one! Love how they have the cars open as if they are actually on display at a tournament. Also shown are the Montessori math beads they can choose to either help solve the problem or to self check their work. The beads in this box are referred to as the decanomial bead box. For homeschoolers using Montessori math, this math bead set is terrific! We purchased our decanomial bead set from Alison's Montessori.

Halloween Oldies But Goodies...

For today's post, am going to share via a photo tour, the Halloween and fall themed work we have done here in the previous few years. 

Then, next week, will share the Halloween and fall themed work we are doing this year.
The items for next week will be for children ages 5-9.

Since many of my blog readers have younger ones, I thought that you would like to see works we have done in the past, as my sons were younger then, so the ideas might work well for your little ones in your home or classroom.  

The works featured in these photos are ideally for ages 3-5, although you can really do them from about 2 to about age 6.

In our home, we do not do scary things for Halloween. We obviously did not when the boys were younger, but we continue to not do scary stuff now that they are a little older.
We focus more on the fun of the activities surrounding Halloween, such as carving pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns, making fun bat, pumpkin, and spider crafts, dressing in costumes, and going trick-or-treating.

We keep trick-or-treating to a very small amount of homes in our neighborhood, usually not even around our whole block.

The boys, enjoy putting on costumes year-round, not just for Halloween.
They love to role play and dress as vets, pirates, cowboys, astronauts, Star Wars characters, and super heroes. Little Bro especially loves to dress up! He will sometimes put a costume on and sport it all day, from morning Montessori inspired work time, to the playground and so on...
So the only thing that sets Halloween apart for him, according to him is that "the neighbors give you candy and you usually get a doughnut and some apple cider."
Well, hope that you will enjoy our Halloween Oldies but Goodies...

New photos for Halloween and fall themed works for older ones will be up in next week's posts...

Fall counting, 1-20, using silk fall leaves.

Halloween village...works well for story telling as well as hiding clues for scavenger hunts. You place the scavenger hunt clues under the little houses.

Bead Transfer: One to many...the ghosts are actually taper candle holders, but they work great to hold tiny beads.

Orange scented dough with festive, fun Halloween themed cookie cutters...

Halloween items for the functional play kitchen area...

Math game using tiny white dominoes and little Halloween erasers as the counters for the game.

Wooden jack-o-lantern mask: Child colors and then, can hold and wear. These wooden masks also work well for shadow puppet shows...

Weighing and balancing activity...child selects the pieces to weigh and places them on the balance...

October mini book to make, along with word cards to go with the book. The pumpkins have hooks on them and go on a display for the months of the year...

These little jack-o-lantern containers have lids that come off...you can use them for a variety of work, such as matching upper case and lower case letters, words and word cards, or math facts. We have used these in a variety of ways over the years...

If you have posts with photos for ideas of Halloween themed activities for little ones, either ages 18 months to age 3, or else ages 3-6, please add your link to this post. 

If you have Halloween / fall themed activities for older ones, say either ages 5-9 or 6-9, please feel free to add them here or to next week's post, as next week, will feature Halloween and fall fun for 6-9. 
It does not have to be a Montessori inspired Halloween or fall themed activity...it can be play based as well, just nothing scary.  

We do not do scary here in our home so I just don't feel right about promoting scary things to young children. 

When we first moved to Florida, we decided to take the boys for a ride to see how the homes were decorated for Halloween, expecting to see pumpkins, some blow up Jack-o-lanterns, and the like. 
Well, there was a home south of us that Dear Hubby and I were horrified to see...they took a stuffed mannequin and had a noose around his neck. They had him dressed like a cross between a zombie and a farmer. They had him dangling, as if he had hung himself, from outside the second story bedroom window of their home! To me, that is not remotely appropriate, nor festive or fun... it was very scary and a horrible image for anyone to see. I happen to know two people who have committed suicide so to see someone making that into a "trick" for Halloween is beyond disturbing. 


We luckily were ably to distract the boys so that they did not catch a glimpse of the house. I do not want that as an image that my sons associate with Halloween or any other day of the year, for that matter.


So, what are your thoughts on scary decorations? Yes or no? 
I would love to hear your thoughts and appreciate input from all sides, but will not put up links to posts on my blog that are not family friendly and fun for fall...

Would love to see your ideas and to visit your family friendly blogs and websites! 

Have a happy weekend!